Page 43 of Her Royal Houseguest

‘No, I can’t,’ she said. ‘Father told me to stay here until Mother collects me.’ It would only get worse if she ignored his command. But she did gesture to the women sitting near her. ‘But several ladies here would adore a dance.’

The ladies nearest her perked up. Lord Patrick might be Irish but he was still a peer and a worthy catch. He smiled, clearly planning to do his duty by them. But he waited a moment until he caught her attention.

‘Will you walk with me tomorrow? I have something I would like to discuss with you.’

‘Of course,’ she said, though the words came out slowly. ‘What do you want?’

‘Tomorrow,’ he said as he bowed over her hand. Then he turned and addressed the nearest wallflower, greeting her warmly before asking her to dance.

The two went off for the next reel while Anna sat and worried. Was he about to propose to her? In Hyde Park? Not likely. He was more circumspect than that. More likely, he would discuss the possibility of their marriage. Of what he would expect of her and the like. And she would be expected to have an answer, if only to encourage or discourage the discussion.

But she didn’t have an answer, which left her fretting even more.

Thankfully, her torture was brief. Her mother collected her before the set was finished. Disapproval radiated from her as she made a quick gesture with her fan. She didn’t even let Anna thank their hosts.

‘It was just a dance,’ she said to her mother.

‘Sssh! Not until we’re in the carriage.’

Anna pressed her lips together until they were fully enclosed in the carriage. Mama waited until they were well on their way.

‘Anna, you are much too old for this type of display.’

‘He asked me to dance. He’s a prince. I could not say no.’

‘A lady—a daughter of a duke—knows how to say no to royalty. I’m sure I’ve taught you so.’

That didn’t make it any easier but there was no point in repeating that it was just a dance. It would be the talk of the ton for a couple days, which would make Father irritable for weeks.

‘I don’t know why I have such a cursed child. Any other daughter would have turned the prince down. And if she could not, she would at least have danced in a respectable manner.’

‘How? By digging in my heels in the middle of the floor?’

‘Don’t give me that!’ her mother snapped. ‘The truth is you wanted to dance. You wanted to spin around in that disgraceful manner. Everyone heard you laugh. You looked like a peasant lifting her skirts at a bonfire.’

Her skirts hadn’t been lifted. But her ankles might have shown. A little.

‘Your father wants you married. It’s embarrassing that the daughter of a duke is a spinster.’ Mama sighed as she looked out the window. ‘It’s your curse. I know it is. You’re doomed to be a disaster. I just don’t know how I can bear it.’ She released another heavy sigh. ‘Maybe we should give up. You could live in the country. Yes, there’d be gossip about how you’re unmarried but…’ she shook her head ‘…they already know about your curse. It was clear from your youngest days.’

Anna curled her left hand tight to her belly and covered it with her right.

‘I tried, Anna. I taught you how to hide it, didn’t I? But it’s obvious in all the other ways. And now we’ll have to send you to the country to live with the shame.’

‘Being unwed isn’t shameful,’ Anna said.

‘It is for the daughter of a duke.’

True. Failure weighed on her, so she grabbed the easiest thing she could find to alleviate the disaster.

‘Lord Patrick wants to walk with me tomorrow. He said he has something to speak with me about.’

Her mother perked up. ‘Do you think he’s going to propose? No, no, not in Hyde Park. Still, that’s a hopeful sign. And no one knows about your curse in Ireland. Maybe they won’t notice.’

And maybe things weren’t as strict in Ireland. Maybe there she could dance how she wanted and the gossip would never reach her father.

‘I’ll try to bring him up to scratch,’ she said.

‘I’ll tell your father. I can convince him to wait to send you to the country. At least until after Lord Patrick makes up his mind.’